After weeks of silence Sony’s PlayStation Now service gained a little definition at a recent event, making a powerful case for the future of streaming games.

Streaming games is something that people very much want to do, but no one has truly delivered on this experience yet. Gamestream, the service Nvidia announced alongside their Shield gaming handheld, is only really useful if you have a powerful local network and a decent computer to stream from. The same goes for the Steam Machines’ in-home PC streaming service, though that is still very much in beta according to Valve. The way that it has been pitched to us so far, PlayStation Now seems to be a full service game system where you can purchase a game and play it 100% remotely, and now that we know Sony is putting their full weight behind the service it’s starting to look like an incredible way to play.

Sony’s supercharged Gaikai purchase is going to launch with “hundreds of titles” that will essentially give their next-gen console the ability to play PS3 and PS2 games. We’ve known for a little while now that PlayStation Now is going to extend to televisions and the PS Vita as well, but the depth of this service is only just now being realized. Sony’s pricing format, as had been previously leaked, is going to include a rental system where games can be played for $4.99 and up depending on the title.

While all of the demo stations for this service so far have been seen in tightly controlled Sony environments, the ability to play games like Ratchet & Clank: Into the Nexus entirely on the PS Vita with no noticeable performance issues is incredible. Having also seen demonstrations for Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception and The Last of Us for this service already, it’s clear that this will be a great option for Sony fans moving forward.

Sony’s closed beta will continue for those fortunate enough to get an invite with an official launch planned for this summer. It would make the most sense for Sony to make a big deal out of PlayStation Now at E3 and give us all of the details just before launch, so the wait won’t be long now.